


The Fold in the Gamble

by Rochelle_Templer



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Extended episode tag, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-30 15:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: After the events in The Parts in the Sum of the Whole, Sweets struggles to deal with what he saw and with the fallout for his friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was a reaction fic I thought of after watching The Parts in the Sum of the Whole a couple of times. It takes place immediately after that and touches on Season Five in general.

It was almost midnight in Washington DC, a cold, clear night where the sky covered the city like a blanket and the buildings sparkled with their artificial lights. Even though he had just spent a grueling day at work that included a therapy session that had lasted hours with his two favorite patients, Doctor Lance Sweets was sitting wide-awake in his front room, restless and tense. He had tried to put the events of the day behind him when he got home, but found it impossible.

Impossible because he knew that he had set something in motion this evening between Special Agent Seeley Booth and Doctor Temperance Brennan, but he had no idea how it was going to turn out. And that terrified him.

* * *

 

Earlier that day, Booth and Brennan had called him asking for an appointment so that they could go over some “issues” that they had with the book he had written about them. Sweets had been careful to get all of his profiling work done for day before they showed up and canceled any other appointments he had so that he could take as long as he needed to with them.

The psychologist was not shocked that they had wanted to go over it with him and had fully welcomed it. Sweets had spent months previously agonizing over whether or not to publish his book in the first place, even discussing the matter with Booth’s ex-therapist, Chef Wyatt. After giving it even more careful thought, Sweets made his final revisions and gave both Booth and Brennan a copy of his manuscript so that they could see the final product before he submitted it to be published.

At first, Sweets’ biggest concerns were the sorts of reactions he would receive from the two of them. Doctor Brennan was sure to find issues with his methods and the conclusions that he drew from them. Sweets knew that the anthropologist tended to use her vast intelligence and rationality as shields against any strong emotions or painful memories. The psychologist figured that she would openly dismiss his belief that she and Booth were in love with each other.

Booth, on the other hand, was sure to breeze right past most of his technical passages and aim straight for the idea that was central to the book: that he was in love with his own partner. While Sweets was sure that Booth did not completely dismiss his talents, insights, and his entire discipline the way Brennan did, he was worried about Booth’s reaction to such a direct declaration of what Sweets felt was his true feelings.

* * *

 

That all led to the appointment Sweets had with them that afternoon to go over his book. Sweets had carefully prepared for this moment, knowing that there would be complicated feelings and issues to sort through. He braced himself for what he was sure would be a breakthrough in Booth and Brennan’s partnership.

Instead he was shocked to find out that they weren’t there to discuss the conclusions of his book, but to make corrections. At least that’s how Brennan explained it. Specifically, she nonchalantly pointed out that they had worked together on a case before the Cleo Eller murder and she and Booth were ready to leave it at that.

Sweets responded to this revelation by slumping back in his chair, frustrated.

 _‘They knew that I was working on this book about them, and yet they gave me no indication that there was a case that they had worked on before the Eller case,’_ he thought to himself. For a moment, the psychologist was irritated at the way Booth and Brennan continued to hinder not only his research for this book, but his attempts to guide them through the therapeutic process in general.

But Sweets quickly swallowed down any negative feelings he had after watching Booth’s reactions to Brennan’s statements during this conversation. The therapist had noted Booth’s somber and agitated demeanor ever since he walked into his office and had become concerned about it.

 _‘There’s something he wants to say…no **needs** to say, but he’s not saying it. Why?’ _ Sweets had wondered.

The psychologist’s thoughts had raced as he tried to process what he had just learned from Brennan. While he may have been somewhat resentful for not finding out before now about this missing case, Sweets knew that he had to find out about it. The therapist figured that it probably seemed like a frivolous detail to them, but it meant a great deal to him. Even at the young age of twenty-five, Sweets had written many articles that appeared in respected psychological journals as well as the book that helped him get this position with the Bureau. He was aware of how it would look if he left out important information out of his research and had drawn faulty conclusions as a result. Sweets did have his professional reputation to consider.

But whether he wanted to admit it or not, Sweets had another question on his mind: if he was wrong about this, how wrong was he about the two of them in general?

Throughout the process of writing this book, Sweets had learned much about his two favorite patients. Even though Booth and Brennan may not have realized it, their relationship was unfolding in front of the psychologist with every glance, every spat of playful bickering, and with every affectionate gesture they shared. Occasionally, Sweets couldn’t help but feel like an obtrusive voyeur, but during those times he reminded himself of the therapeutic role he was playing in their lives. It was not unusual at all for deeply personal moments to come out of the normal course of therapy, and Sweets did his best to remain clinical during those moments.

Thinking back on what he had learned, Sweets was sure that he instinctively knew that Booth and Brennan were in love with each other all along. It had taken Wyatt’s insight to realize that the two of them were also aware of their attraction for each other, and after that Sweets could see clear signs of their struggle to handle those feelings.

* * *

 

Sitting on the couch in his apartment, late at night, Sweets pondered a disturbing thought.

_‘Is it possible that I misread them? That I was completely wrong about their feelings after all?’_

The thought made the therapist squirm. He had become used to the idea that he could sense things about others. Even as a child, Sweets could almost always get a read on a person’s basic nature after being around them for a short while. As he got older and received more schooling and training in the field of psychology, his observations grew more sophisticated, but at the core of it all was an innate talent for gaining insights into others.

Sweets was more than a little unnerved at the idea that he may have been completely off the mark about Booth and Brennan.

But during that session, Booth’s subdued behavior had bothered him just as much, and Sweets had racked his brain for a way to draw out what was bothering the agent.

 _‘He was waiting for the right opportunity to speak from his mind,’_ he thought _. ‘The right moment to open up about what was inside him.’_

The psychologist slumped down into the cushions as he thought about his actions in response to these developments.

* * *

 

“Please, tell me all about that real first case to see if my conclusions are still valid,” Sweets had begged them.

He watched as the two of them shared a look with each other and was sure that there would be resistance. But to Sweets’ surprise, Booth and Brennan sat down and began to tell him all about their work on the Judge Hasty murder case. Sweets vaguely remembered hearing about it in the news while he was still finishing up his studies as a Rhodes Scholar in England, but he had no idea that it was the two of them who had solved it.

He listed with great interest as he heard about their initial reactions to each other and gained some idea of how the team at the Jeffersonian had first been brought together. But when they told him about how they kissed each other after some rounds of tequila, he had been shocked at how open the two of them had been with budding attraction for each other.

 _‘All those ideas I had about them sublimating their feelings for each other from the beginning were totally off,’_ the psychologist thought to himself. _‘Wyatt was even more right than he could have realized when he said that there were not only aware of their feelings but were struggling with them. And he had a lot less to work with than I did.’_

“My book is crap,” he said out loud. He barely heard Booth and Brennan’s assurances that they were just trying to spare him from embarrassment.

* * *

 

Back in his apartment, Sweets got up and walked over to the window so that he could stare into the blackness that matched his feelings right now.

‘ _It would have been better if Wyatt had remained Booth’s therapist, and I had never gotten involved,’_ he berated himself. _‘How many more missteps did I make over the course of my treatment of them?’_

Sweets swallowed down a lump that was forming in his throat.

_‘Booth was right the first time when he met me…I’m too young, too inexperienced, too…I’m not cut out to handle a case as complicated as this. Who knows how many ways I’ve bungled their chance for true resolution for their problems.’_

He remembered how Booth had tried to reassure him during the course of this session, but his words could not stop Sweets from diving into the self-doubt and self-flagellation that he had been prone to his whole life.  And it didn’t stop when the session was over either.

Sweets leaned his head against the glass and thought back to the rest of the evening.

* * *

 

Brennan and Booth had gone on to tell him about the rest of the case, and Sweets dark mood only worsened.

_‘I’ve failed them. Completely and utterly as their therapist…But they also failed each other. They’re so wrapped up in their old wounds, fears, and defenses; they won’t give each other a chance…But it was my job…it was more than just my job…to help them through all that.’_

By the time they had finally finished with the conclusion of the case and how it led to the two of them not working together for over a year, Sweets was overwhelmed by all the revelations he had gone through.

_‘After all that…and after all that’s happened since…they still haven’t moved forward. What is it going to take for them to admit what they are feeling for each other?’_

But that thought had only distracted him for a moment and was quickly dashed aside as he watched Booth’s reactions to Brennan’s continued assertion that they were not in love. Just then, Sweets knew what it was that had been on the tip of the agent’s tongue this whole time.

* * *

 

' _He wanted to tell her the truth,’_ Sweets told himself while still staring out his front room window. _‘That he was in love with her…and had been for a long time.’_

Ever since Booth’s surgery to remove his brain tumor, the therapist had been watching him grapple with his feelings for Brennan, which had been brought to the front of his mind during the coma dream.

At first Sweets believed that delaying Booth’s declaration of his feelings was the right decision and had helped it along by showing Booth those brain scans and by being careful to avoid directly addressing those romantic feelings. Wyatt had agreed with Sweets’ instincts and had mentioned that Booth knew in his heart that revealing his feelings would be akin to an assault to Brennan. Thus, Sweets focused on slowly helping the anthropologist through her convoluted feelings and issues so that she could accept Booth’s love when the time was right. The psychologist couldn’t help but marvel at how Booth continued to push down and hide his feelings for his partner despite the obvious toll that it was taking on him. He was sure that Booth was going to try to wait as long as it took for Brennan to reach a place where it would be safe to open up his heart at last, no matter what the cost was to him.

But during this last session it had become abundantly clear to Sweets that while Brennan had certainly grown as a person, she was determined to deny her feelings for Booth out of fear of disrupting the status quo.

However, Booth was having his soul eaten away bit by bit, and this sort of life, being unable to share his heart with the woman he loved, was unbearable to him.

Sweets had watched as the spark in the agent’s eyes dimmed a little more during the course of this session, and had found it painful to behold. Booth had been desperate to finally tell the truth about his feelings and now there didn’t seem to be any chance for it.

Even now, hours later, Sweets felt his eyes water up when he remembered that look on Booth’s face. Over the years, he had come to see the agent as far more than a patient; he considered him a close friend. And he couldn’t bear to watch his friend suffer any more, even if it meant that Brennan, who he also considered a friend, would be forced to confront the intense emotions she had fought so hard to ward off.

The therapist sighed when he remembered the fateful moment when he decided to take direct action at last.

* * *

 

“One of you has to have the courage to break this stalemate,” Sweets had told them. The psychologist’s eyes flickered back and forth between them before finally settling on Booth.

“You…it has to be you because you’re the gambler,” Sweets said, leaning toward the agent. The therapist noticed that, for a second, Booth became defensive over his choice of words, but that defensiveness swiftly melted away when he saw the concern in Sweets’ eyes.

“For once, make that work for you,” the psychologist said gently.

From the outside, it seemed like Booth had no reaction to the therapist’s words, but Sweets knew better. He could tell that Booth was communicating his feelings to him silently and he knew what it was the agent was saying behind his neutral expression.

_‘I can’t continue on this way…but I don’t know if I can tell her the truth.’_

Sweets gave a look in response which he was sure Booth would understand due to his enormous skill at reading the unspoken cues of others.

_‘You shouldn’t have to live like this…You need to tell her the truth…Have faith in her.’_

Predictably, Booth broke off their wordless conversation with a casual remark about wanting to get something to eat. Again, Sweets found himself momentarily annoyed at the flippant way his book and much of his work had been completely dismantled.

* * *

 

Sweets finally moved away from the window and began to pace around his apartment. Truthfully he was already over the loss of his book. While it was true that it represented a lot of lost time and energy, Sweets had known on an instinctive level that there had always been a chance that his book would never be published.

In some ways, it had been doomed from the start since it had initially been a way for Sweets to continue therapy for Booth and Brennan when he was faced with the possibility that they would stop having any official reason to continue seeing him.

Sweets sighed again when he remembered how Booth had figured out from the moment the book had been proposed that it had less to do with psychological research and more to do with Sweets’ desire to not lose contact with the people he had grown close to as a therapist and as a friend. The psychologist had been frustrated with himself at first for being so transparent, but after a while he realized that Booth simply had a great talent for reading him in particular.

But while he was sure that he would get over the loss of this book, Sweets was unsure that he would be able to get over the consequences of his actions if they resulted in things going terribly wrong between Booth and Brennan.

Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Sweets glanced over at the clock and his brow furrowed; it was much too late at night for a mere social call.

He walked over to the door and looked out the peephole to see Booth standing outside his door by himself. That fact alone made Sweets uneasy. He quickly undid the locks and opened the door.

“Agent Booth…can I…”

“I did it…I gambled, Sweets…I gambled, and I lost.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sweets sat on the couch next to Booth, still trying to take in the events that were unfolding in front of him. Booth was nursing the beer that the psychologist had offered him. Sweets felt that the occasion called for something much stronger, and had been ashamed to admit that the hardest liquor he had was beer. But the agent didn’t seem to mind though and accepted the beer and Sweets’ company. The two of them ended up spending almost an hour in companionable silence.

The psychologist had been more than a little surprised that Booth had come to him, figuring that he would blame him for this turn of events. After all, Sweets was able to think of plenty of ways to blame himself for the pain that was clearly etched into Booth’s features.

‘ _This was a mistake…I pushed, but Brennan is still unwilling or unable to make that sort of breakthrough in her life,’_ Sweets thought to himself. ‘ _All this time and I haven’t made a shred of progress with her…I don’t know if I can even reach her now.’_

Sweets slouched into the couch. He knew from the beginning that treating Brennan would be a difficult challenge due to her distrust of him and his profession. He remembered all too well how irritated she became at his initial attempts to probe their feelings.

‘ _You don’t know Booth…You don’t know me….’_

Over two years later, Sweets was beginning to wonder if she had been right all along.

Glancing over at Booth as he finished his beer, the psychologist decided that he should at least try to help the man sitting next to him.

“Booth,” he said hesitantly. “The situation with you and Doctor Brennan….Could you tell me…?”

“I tried Sweets,” Booth said, his voice marred by a slight crack. “I tried telling her that we should give us a chance…I told her how I was that guy…The guy who would know when something could last 40 or 50 or 60 years.”

Booth sighed and reached for another beer, but Sweets beat him to it. The psychologist opened it for him and handed it to Booth; the two of them sharing an unspoken communication during all this.

“I know that in today’s world, something like that doesn’t seem possible,” Booth continued. “The way people let shifts in their lives pull them apart…But I still think it can happen…And I think it could happen for me.”

The agent rubbed his eyes while shaking his head.

“But who knows, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it,” Booth said. “Maybe that just weakened my argument with her. I’m sure Bones could quote me all kinds about divorce being the norm or something.”

“No I agree with you,” Sweets said quietly.

That made Booth turn toward him, and Sweets grabbed himself a beer, not wanting to leave the agent alone…in drinking or otherwise.

“My parents…they stayed together for decades,” the psychologist added. “Only death was able to separate them…And even that separation didn’t last very long…And I…I guess I grew up hoping that one day I’d know that kind of love too…The kind of love that can encompass a lifetime.”

Sweets was glad to see Booth’s eyes soften a little as he told him this. The agent nodded his head in acknowledgement, seemingly grateful that the therapist understood what he was telling him.

“I’m sure it will happen for you, Sweets,” Booth assured him. “You will just need to be ready to hold on to it tightly when it happens.”

The psychologist suddenly took a very long swig of his beer. The implications of Booth’s statement brought forth feelings that he hadn’t been expecting.

‘ _He’s saying that it will happen and to be ready Because….because he doesn’t think that it’s happened yet.’_

_‘But I love Daisy…and I’m going to marry her…I don’t need to search anymore. I’m ready to make that commitment.’_

_‘Why doesn’t Booth see that in us?’_

Sweets knew that now was not the time to mention his recent engagement considering Booth’s current turmoil.

‘ _But…why didn’t I tell him before now?’_

The subway accident that Sweets had been in recently had served as a wakeup call that he needed to make sure that he was living the life that he wanted to live. After thinking it over carefully and deeply, Sweets realized that while he had found a purpose and a sense of belonging with people he had become close to, the fact remained that he was looking for someone to share all of this with. Armed with that epiphany, the psychologist had taken the bold step of proposing to Daisy, confident that despite any possible kinks, he could build a life with her.

They hadn’t said anything that night since Daisy had become rather…amorous after Sweets’ proposal. Then the therapist fully expected Daisy to blurt out this development to anyone who would listen at the Jeffersonian, so he decided to let her be the one to share the happy news. But recently the intern had become strangely secretive, refusing to talk about her studies or her long-term plans. When she started to carefully monitor her mail, Sweets became even more concerned. But Daisy continued to tell him how thrilled she was that she was going to marry him, so he didn’t press the issue. Besides, the psychologist knew that people responded in all sorts of ways to life changing events like this; he reasoned that he was simply seeing a new side to Daisy.

Sweets shifted his focus back toward Booth, who was clearly trying to work up the nerve to continue. He was increasingly mystified as to why he didn’t tell the agent if no one else. After all, Sweets was sure that he would ask Booth to stand with him at his wedding. So why wouldn’t he tell him of all people?

What was holding him back?

“Anyway, I told Bones all that stuff, but it didn’t make a bit of difference,” Booth finally said. “I even kissed her again…But still…”

“She pushed away from you?” Sweets asked, wincing at how his own voice sounded a touch too clinical for this conversation.

“Yeah she did, Sweets. Literally,” Booth confirmed with a hollow laugh. “Don’t you get sick of Jedi mind tricks always being dead on?”

Sweets smiled; he knew that the agent wasn’t making fun of him, but was trying to relieve some of his own anxiety and tension.

“Did she give you a reason for saying no?” the psychologist asked, unsure if he should even pose this question.

“She said…she said that I was the one who needed protection,” Booth swallowed. “Protection from her and her unwillingness to change.”

Sweets nodded silently. While it was true that everyone, including him, had become accustomed to the idea of Booth being the protector of the group, the psychologist had always sensed that there was a sensitive soul at Booth’s core, a heart that wasn’t just brave and fierce. A heart that was also caring and romantic. The therapist was a little surprised that Brennan had noticed it, but Sweets immediately brushed that thought aside, knowing that he was seriously underestimating the depths of the anthropologist’s heart with ideas like that.

“Doctor Brennan has a hard time processing strong emotions like these,” Sweets offered. “We both know this…Perhaps if we give her some time to think about this…And then later you can….”

“I told her that I needed to move on,” the agent said. “I just can’t stay in this kind of holding pattern…No matter what I might feel....But Bones is just not a gambler…And she understands why I need to do this.”

It took every bit of training Sweets had to not react violently to this statement. As Booth finished off yet another beer, Sweets’ stomach churned.

‘ _It’s worse that I thought…Not only is Brennan convinced that they would never work, but now Booth does too.’_

Sweets jumped up from the couch and walked back over to the window, unable to face Booth anymore.

‘ _What have I done? Five years of close partnership that was plainly leading to something even deeper….And I blow it by pushing too hard, too soon.’_

“Sweets?” Booth said. But the psychologist didn’t seem to hear him.

‘ _I should have focused more on helping Booth through this and on trying to reach Brennan individually,’_ Sweets berated inwardly. ‘ _Instead I was so intent on proving the point of my book…and on proving my point to the two of them…that I lost sight of what I was trying to do in the first place.’_

“Hey….Sweets?” Booth asked cautiously.

“I’m sorry, Booth…for what I said…for the book…for all of it,” Sweets said, refusing to turn around. It sounded hopelessly trite, but the psychologist knew that he needed to say it. He then took a deep breath so as to brace himself for his next statement.

“Booth…I think it would be best if my book wasn’t published,” he said. “Tomorrow I can talk to Hacker. I’m sure he’d be glad to find another agent to assign to Doctor Brennan. And I can refer you to another therapist if you need any…”

“Don’t. Don’t do this Sweets,” Booth said quietly. The way the agent’s voice sounded finally made Sweets turn back around.

The therapist saw that the haunted look that had been in Booth’s eyes when he first arrived had returned. Sweets flinched at the sight, but he was quickly struck with another thought.

‘ _This is the look he had when he thought about Brennan walking away from him…And now I’m threatening to do the same…’_

Sweets could hardly believe it. Didn’t Booth blame him for what happened? Instead the agent had come to him…not for his therapeutic skills, But as a friend seeking solace in another friend. And Sweets knew that he could never walk away from his friend.

“It’s ok…You can continue to see me if that’s better for you,” Sweets assured him as he walked back over to sit with Booth again. For the first time since he had gotten there, Booth looked relieved.

“It’s just as well Sweets. Besides, Bones and I are still partners,” the agent replied.

“Um….what?” Sweets asked, flabbergasted.

“We’re still partners,” Booth repeated. “She asked if we could still work together and I said ok….I mean, I know that it’ll be….hard at first. But we’ll manage somehow.”

Sweets tried very hard to not looked shocked at this news, but he was pretty sure that he was failing at least a little.

‘ _She walked away…He wants to move on…But they still want to be partners?’_ he thought. ‘ _At least I was right in telling them how screwed up they are.’_

Still Sweets could not deny another truth that occurred to him even if Booth and Brennan refused to.

‘ _This isn’t over…It’s hit a major obstacle…But it’s not over, not by a long shot…And whether they want to admit it or not, they both know it too.’_

For all his insight into emotions, Sweets could not fathom what he was feeling right now: sorrow, relief, frustration, hope. All of that seemed to be competing for control, but one thought dominated his brain.

‘ _I can’t give up now…Not on either of them…I have to keep trying to help them…’_

Booth finished his latest beer and rose to his feet.

“I…I should go,” he said, uncertainty evident in his voice. “I’m sure you have things to do…I’ll just….”

“Booth why don’t you stay here tonight?” Sweets said. “I have a guest room you can use…And I have one of those deluxe cable packages.”

The agent looked over at him with something resembling a smile on his face.

“Thanks Sweets,” he said sitting back down. Sweets handed him the remote, and Booth began to browse through the channels.

“Aren’t you going to bed?” Booth asked. “I’m sure you’re tired.” Truthfully, Sweets was weary, and he was facing a long day tomorrow. But instead he shook his head.

“Nah, I’m too wired to sleep right now,” he said. Booth tilted his head at him, and Sweets could have sworn that he saw a flicker of gratitude in his eyes. The two of them leaned back and started to watch a cheesy action flick that Booth had flipped to.

‘ _This evening might have been a gamble…But no one had a chance to lose because everyone folded before it could play out,’_ Sweets thought. But Sweets knew enough about poker to know that a well placed fold in response to a strong bluff was not the end of the game…And he was determined to make sure that when the chance came up again, it would not be a gamble.

It would be a sure thing.

But for tonight there was beer, talk, and action movies. Neither of them noticed as they both fell asleep on the couch.

And neither moved from that spot until morning.


End file.
